With as popular as Bugs Bunny has been over the years, surprisingly I couldn't find any costume patterns dating back further than the 1970s. Maybe WB wasn't as liberal as Disney about licensing their characters... or maybe Bugs and his friends are too difficult for a home seamstress?

Butterick 6348

Via the Vintage Pattern Wiki comes this 1970s Bugs Bunny costume. It seems Butterick has kept the Looney Tunes / WB license consistently over the years.

Butterick 5044

Apologies for the picture quality... apparently this pattern of Bugs and Lola(?) bunny is a little hard to find. The image is from an unknown source.

Okay, that's all the Bugs Bunny costumes I could find... let's check out some other characters!

I was really surprised, actually.. that there aren't more licensed WB cartoon costumes out there.

I would think some other characters like Marvin Martian, Tasmanian Devil and Pepe Le Pew... as well as characters like Elmer Fudd, or characters from Tiny Toon Adventures would make really good costume patterns... but I couldn't find any more.

Monday, August 17, 2015

For almost as long as there's been sewing patterns AND cartoons, there's been licensed cartoon Halloween costume sewing patterns. I thought I'd showcase some of the cute and fun cartoon Halloween costumes you can make... Halloween will be here before you know it!

This topic has SO many patterns, I decided to break it up into parts. Disney, Warner Brothers, Hanna-Barbera, Etc... they all have their own licensed costumes!

Probably when most people think of "cartoon," they easily think of "Disney." For decades, Disney hasn't been shy about licensing their characters for sewing patterns. There are imitation and copy-cat costumes out there, of course, but I wanted to focus on officiallylicensed patterns.

(Oh yeah, you can see some early Disney-licensed Alice in Wonderland, Mad Hatter and March Hare costumes at this previous blog entry!)

Not a costume, but how about this amazing vintage Cinderella apron from Penny's and Disney, available at Keepsakes Studio? Wow! Really rare and awesome. I haven't been able to find an actual vintage Cinderella Disney-licensed costume, but perhaps one existed? Let me know if you know of one!

Via the Vintage Pattern Wiki is this rare licensed Snow White costume, McCall 558; circa 1930s! Disney has never been shy at licensing to every possible market. :) This one is really a stunner, probably one of the first if not the first Disney-licensed pattern.

Advance 709 in the Vintage Pattern Wiki is this very rare and really beautiful Peter Pan costume! I couldn't find any other Disney-licensed Advance patterns. Please tell me if you know of any. :) I think it is unusual that while most Disney patterns are now licensed under the Simplicity brand, the earliest Disney costumes were licensed to McCall's.. and this one to Advance!

Found on The Walt Disney Company blog via Pinterest, this amazing 1930s Mickey and Minnie costume from McCall (#142) is out of control! I have never seen one for sale. This is REALLY RARE and I was so excited to see it.

I'm sure this is only a SMALL SAMPLING of the licensed Disney costumes that have been offered for sale over the years.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

It's those words that every kid hates! "Back to School!" School starts this week where I live! So unfair! I'm glad I'm not a kid. :) Maybe you can make it a little less painful for your tykes with some fun back to school patterns from the Pattern Patter Team?

Vogue 1959

This cute busy book pattern from The Granny Squared will teach some valuable skills! The fun pictures and colorful animals as well as the interactive pages are great for a youngster.

Simplicity 9473

How about these cute separates and a fun backpack from team member Neverwares?

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Costume designer Edith Head (1897-1981) secured her legacy as Hollywood's best-known costume designer when she received the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science nomination for best Costume Design for the movie Airport '77. Head worked on more than 1,100 films, received 35 Oscar nominations, and took home eight awards.

In 1923, she was hired by Paramount Studios as a sketch designer, some say using another's sketches. By1938, Head had become that studio's chief costume designer, a position she held until 1967, when she moved to Universal Pictures.

Her first Oscar nomination came in 1949, for the 1948 film The Emperor Waltz, starring Joan Fontaine and Bing Crosby. Head's first Oscar win came in 1950 for her work in The Heiress, starring Olivia de Haviland.

via pinterest.com

Her trademark "sunglasses" were in fact not sunglasses, but blue lensed glasses. Using such a lens was common practice during the days of black and white movies. This gave the costumer a sense of what the color would look like on-screen. Head took this one step further and had glasses made to save herself straining to see through just a single lens.

Her career was not without controversy. For the film Sabrina (1955 winner), Givenchy designed many of the clothes worn by Audrey Hepburn, but was uncredited. At that time, Givenchy worked for Edith Head. When the Oscar-winning costume designer was announced, Edith Head accepted the statue without mentioning Givenchy's work. Hepburn was appalled by the snub to her friend, and vowed she would not allow that to happen again. In 1961, Givenchy designed a Little Black Dress for the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany's. His original version showed most of Hepburn's leg, and the studio vetoed the dress. Edith Head, still head designer, reworked the skirt and filled it with horsehair and lead weights to make it fall the way she wanted. In this case, however, Givenchy was credited with the design and Head as "costume supervisor."

pictures via pinterest.com

In addition to The Heiress, Edith Head won Academy Awards for the following films:All About Eve

Bette Davis, Marilyn Monroe, George Sanders

photo via allposters.com

Samson and Delilah

Hedy Lamar

via fanpix.net

A Place in the Sun

Elizabeth Taylorfashion.telegraph.co.uk

Roman Holiday

www.britannica.comphoto by Paramount Pictures

picture via featherbyfeather.comSabrina

via sensefunnel.com(some sources say this dress is a Givenchy design)The Facts of Life

sketch for Lucille Ball, The Facts of Lifevia pinterest.com

The Sting

via behind-the-seens.com

Many classic films list as Edith Head as Costume Designer: Rear Window, Vertigo, The Birds, To Catch a Thief, Sweet Charity, Notorious, Rooster Cogburn, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and White Christmas. She is credited as the designer who put Dorothy Lamour in a sarong.

Upon winning her last Oscar for The Sting, her acceptance speech was brief: "Just imagine dressing the two handsomest men in the world and getting this. I simply couldn't be more happy or more grateful."

Once asked who was her personal favorite actress to dress, she replied, "Grace Kelly. She is a charming lady, a most gifted actress, and, to me, a valued friend."

Despite all her accolades and Oscars, the project of which she was most proud occurred in the late 1970s, when she designed a woman's uniform for the U. S. Coast Guard. The growing number of women in the military resulted in a need for suitable uniforms. For this, Head received the Meritorious Public Service Award.

picture from 4yourinformation.files.wordpress.com

Here are some lovely patterns designed by Edith Head offered by members of the Pattern Patter Team on etsy.com.

Etsy Pattern Patter Team Showcase

Here are some randomly selected, live listings from members of the Pattern Patter Team Page on Etsy -
Click "refresh" to see even more listings!
Special thanks to Kevin of BetaRays, member of the Toronto Etsy Team for creating this free Team Showcase app!